Hae-An and Steve’s Colorful Bicultural Wedding at the Chauncey Hotel and Laurie House

We love photographing weddings of all kinds, but there’s something about a bicultural wedding that’s extra-special. It’s always so cool to see how each person’s culture is represented and which traditions they include. 

Hae-An and Steve’s Korean-American wedding was no exception. It was the best of everything: bright and colorful, and also delicate and romantic. It incorporated all of the traditions that mattered to them, and to each of their (very big) families. They made their day a perfect blend of the two of them, and we have no doubt that this will be reflected in their life together going forward!

The Most Endearing Proposal Story Ever

Steve and Hae-An’s proposal story is just too funny! It’s the perfect example of what happens when your partner knows you as well as (or maybe even better than) you know yourself. Steve told us, 

“Hae-An was working hard outside, preparing her vegetable garden for the new spring season, when I showed up and demanded we go out to dinner. We don’t go out to dinner very often. Hae-An and her family like cooking so we stay in a lot and have delicious home cooked meals.” 

That night especially, Hae-An was exhausted and just wanted to stay in with a tub of ice cream. But, she was sweetly persuaded to go out to the Brick Farm Tavern, a newer farm to table restaurant in Hopewell. Steve had made reservations for the fancy prix-fixe, 5 course tasting menu, so Hae-An knew something was up. By the 4th course, she couldn’t keep it in anymore and said to Steve, 

“Are you proposing or something? Because don’t do it here in front of all these people!”

Of course Steve knows Hae-An better than she gives him credit for, and he had never planned to propose in public! Instead, when they got back to her parent’s house, Steve asked Hae-An to marry him. They were standing in the yard, dimly lit by the neighbor’s barn light, while one of their dogs watched, and it was perfect.

Bringing Families Together

There’s one thing that Steve and Hae-An told us that says so much about who they are:  “We both come from big families and our commitment to our families is one of the bonds we instantly found in each other.” 

Their love and devotion to each of their families was clear to us throughout their celebration, and it is totally evident in the wedding pictures.

There’s nothing like being at a wedding when you can feel the love from both sides of the family all throughout the room (and with a guest list of 180, there was a lot of love to be felt!). 

There were so many touches that put family front-and-centre throughout the event, like the way the couple chose to have 4 sweet flower girls, each so important to them. And, the way Hae-An’s childhood friend (a flower designer), took care of all of the floral arrangements for the wedding. It’s so great when couples can include their friends and family into their wedding day in so many meaningful ways.

Bringing Cultures Together with a Bicultural Ceremony

Steve and Hae-An opted to hold the traditional paebaek ceremony (also transliterated as pyebaek) on the night of their rehearsal dinner. During the ceremony, they wore traditional Korean clothing and both looked incredible. Hae-An worked with a fabulous hair and makeup artist, Hae-Kyung Yoo, who was actually a major contributor to the wedding celebration! She is a specialist in Korean-American weddings and she helped coordinate the traditional paebaek. 

The next day, they held an American wedding complete with a white dress and a big wedding cake! Both events were gorgeous and full of family and traditions, and so important to Steve and Hae-An. You can tell just by looking at the photos that it was a really special wedding celebration, and that everyone had a blast!

You can see more weddings at Chauncey Hotel and Laurie House here

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Planning a Bicultural Wedding?

Contact us! We’ve photographed so many bicultural weddings and we’d love to chat with you about yours.